by Bert Daniel | Apr 28, 2023 | Welcome Column
(The daily grist quote on the splash page you just clicked is from Ludwig van Beethoven. He was a really great musician and I wonder what he would have thought of bluegrass music). We all do it. No matter how good a musician you are, you will mess up occasionally....
by Bert Daniel | Apr 23, 2023 | Welcome Column
(Editors note: this post comes a day late because we were all enjoying the simple pleasures of gathering with friends at Lodi without internet) Let all things now living a song of Thanksgiving If I haven’t sung that line a hundred times I’d be very surprised. When I...
by Bert Daniel | Mar 28, 2023 | Welcome Column
Well it Ain’t gonna rain no more no more. It ain’t gonna rain no more How in the heck can I wash my neck when it ain’t gonna rain no more? Sadly, this is not the weather forecast I got for the next few days. More rain is on the way and many of us here in California...
by Bert Daniel | Mar 7, 2023 | Uncategorized, Welcome Column
Doc Watson’s birthday was this past Friday. He would have turned one hundred on March third. I celebrated with my best jamming buddies by cutting short our session and walking down the street to hear Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands at the Sweetwater Music Hall in...
by Bert Daniel | Feb 8, 2023 | Uncategorized, Welcome Column
The banjo has always held a certain fascination for me. I was enthralled when Bill Evans presented his Banjo in America extravaganza ten years ago. What a cool instrument I thought, as Bill played through a series of vintage instruments to illustrate the venerable...
by Bert Daniel | Jan 25, 2023 | Uncategorized, Welcome Column
I suppose everybody who’s hooked on bluegrass is by definition hooked on banjo. Some people say, with good reason, that Bill Monroe “invented” bluegrass. But without those Earl Scruggs banjo rolls to drive the music, that invention would be hollow. Without the banjo,...
